Cancellation and Refund Rules - Amendments in Railway Passengers Refund Rules

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD)

No. TCII/2003/l2/Refund Policy 

New Delhi, dated 14/06/2013

The General Managers,

All Indian Railways.

Sub: Amendments in the certain provisions of Refund Rules.

1. Revision of certain provisions of Refund rule (appearing in No. 213 of IRCA Coaching Tariff No. 26 Part-I (Volume-l)) has been done vide Gazette notification No. G.S.R. 362(E) dated 06.06.2013. Accordingly a copy of the Gazette Notification is enclosed herewith. The same has been uploaded on the Indian Railways website.

2. This will come into effect from 01/07/2013.

3. The changes in the refund rule wherever required should be carried out in manual ticketing system and in PRS, UTS, SPTMs etc.

4. Special arrangements should be made to ensure that necessary instructions and the revised refund rules should reach the staff well in time. Steps should also be taken to ensure that the staff fully understand these changes in the refund rule and implement them properly.

5. Wide publicity should be given through media at regular intervals and the same may also be displayed prominently at all stations at booking/reservation counters. Action should also be taken to make changes in Passenger Information Systems at all places including Enquiry office etc.

sd/-

(Dr. Monica Agnihotri)

Director (Passenger Marketing)

Railway Board

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD) 

NOTIFICATION

New Delhi, the 6th June, 2013

G.S.R. 362(E). :- In exercise of powers conferred by sub-section (I), read with Clause (b) of sub section (2), of section 60 of the Railways Act. 1989 (24 of 1989), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of ticket and refund of fare) Rules, 1998. namely:-

1. (I) These rules may be called the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of ticket and refund of fare) Amendment Rules, 2013.

(2) They shall come into force on the 1st day of July, 2013.

2. In the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of tickct and refund of fare) Rules, 1998 (hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in rule 2 after clause (I), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:- 

(i) (j) “ARP” means advance reservation period upto which a reserved ticket can be booked for a future journey dale;

(ii) (k) “confirmed ticket” means a ticket on which a seat or berth has been reserved;

(iii) (l) “TDR” means ticket deposit receipt issued to the passengers in lieu of the surrendered ticket, at the station where the ticket has been surrendered by the passenger;

(iv) (m) “tatkal ticket” means a ticket with shorter advance reservation period, issued to meet the requirements of those passengers who have to travel at short notice;

(v) (n) “waitlisted ticket” means a ticket on which no berth or seat has been allotted.

3. For rule 4 of the said rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:-

“4. Levy of clerkage.

Subject to other provisions of these rules, station master shall levy a clerkage charge per passenger for cancellation of unreserved, wait-listed and RAC tickets at the rate of rupees fifteen for second class (unreserved) and rupees thirty for second class (reserved) and other classes”.

4. For rule 5 of the said rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:-

“5. Unused tickets on which no reservation has been made. 

If a ticket on which no reservation of a seat or berth has been made is presented to the station master for cancellation, refund of fare shall be made on every such ticket after deducting the clerkage-

(i) the ticket is presented for cancellation within three hours of issue of ticket;

(ii) in case of tickets issued in advance, the ticket is presented upto 24.00 hours of the day preceding the day of journey”.

5. For rule 6 of the said rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:-

“6. Unused tickets on which reservation has been made.

1. Subject to the provisions of these rules, If a ticket on with reservation of a seat or berth has been made is presented by the passenger or his agent to a station master for cancellation, refund of fare shall be made after deducting cancellation charges from the fare as follows:

(a) If the ticket is presented for cancellation more than forty eight hours in advance of the scheduled departure of the train, a minimum per passenger cancellation charge shall be deducted at the flat rate of rupees one hundred and twenty for air conditioned first class/executive class, rupees one hundred for air conditioned-II tier/first class, rupees ninety for airconditioned III Tier/3 economy/airconditioned chair car, rupees sixty for sleeper class and rupees thirty for second class.

(b) If the ticket is presented for cancellation between forty eight hours and upto six hours before the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charge shall be twenty five per cent of the fare subject to a minimum of the cancellation charge referred to in clause (a);

(c) if the ticket is presented for cancellation within six hours before the scheduled departure of the train and upto two hours after the actual departure of the train irrespective of distance, the cancellation charge shall be fifty per cent of the fare sutect to a minimum of the cancellation charge referred to in clause (a); and

d) the passenger may get the ticket cancelled from any Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters or the designated current counters:

Provided that for (he night trains leaving between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours (actual & depature) refund shall be admissible at the station within first two hours after the opening of reservation office, in case no current counters are available at the station originating the journey;

(2) No refund shall be granted on the reserved ticket if it is surrendered for cancellation after two hours of the actual departure of the train.

(3) In case, on a party ticket or a family ticket issued for travel of more than one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also provided that the entire ticket is surrendered for cancellation within six hours before the scheduled departure of the train and upto two hours after actual departure of the train”.

6. For rule 7 of the said rules, the following rules shall be substituted, namely:-

7. Unused waitlisled or RAC tickets or waitiisted.

(i) if a waitlisted ticket or RAC ticket is presented for cancellation, refund of fare shall be made after deducting the clerikage in the following manner, namely:-

(I) the ticket is presented for cancellation upto three hours after the actual departure of the train irrespective of the distance;

(ii) the passenger may get the tickets cancelled front any Passenger Reservation System(PRS) counters or the designated current counters;

(iii) no refund of fare shall be granted on RAC ticket or waitlisted ticket after three hours of the actual departure of the train.

(2) In case no current counters are available at the station originating the journey for night trains leaving between 21.00 hours and 06.00 hours (actual departure), refund of fare shall be admissible at the station within first two hours after the opening of reservation office.

(3) In remote and hill areas as identified by the Zonal Railway with the prior approval of the General Manager and printed in the time table, for night trains leaving between 19.00 hours and 06.00 hours(actual departure) refund shall be admissible at the station within first two hours after the opening of reservation or booking office, in case there is no reservation counters or booking office or current counters available in that area.

(4) Where confirmed reservation has been provided to RAC or waitlisted ticket holder at any time upto the final preparation of reservation chart, such ticket shall be treated as a reserved ticket and cancellation charge shall be payable in accordance with rule 6.

7A. Cancellation of e-tickets:-

(l) The e-ticket may be booked and cancelled through internet and thce refund of fare shall be credited to the customer’s account after deducting the charges applicable.

(2) In case of a confirmed e-ticket, refund of fare shall be granted in accordance with rule 6.

(3) In case of RAC c-ticket, refund of fure shall be granted in accordance with rule 7.

(4) In case of the waitlistcd e-ticket on which status of all the passengers is on waiting list even after preparation of reservation charts, names of all such passengers booked on that Passenger Name Record (PNR) shall be dropped from the reservation chart and refund of fare shall be credited to the customer’s account after deducting the clerkage.

(5) In cace on a party e-ticket or a family e-ticket issued for travel of more than one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on the list of RAC and waiting list, then in case of passengers on RAC or waitlisted not travelling, a certificate has to be obtained from the ticket checking staff to that effect and refund of fare shall be processed online through TDR, indicating the details of the certificate issued by ticket checking staff.

(6) The online TDR shall be filed upto seventy two hours of actual arrival of the train at passenger’s destination and the original certificate issued by the ticket checking stall is lo be sent through post to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

(7) The fare shall be refunded by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to the customer’s account after due verification.

(8) In case of e-tickets (confirmed or RAC), if the reservation charts have been prepared, online TDR is required to be filed for obtaining refund.

(9) No refund of fare shall be admissible on e- ticket having confirmed reservation in case the request for refund is filed online after two hours of the actual departure of the train.

(10) No refund of fare shall be admissible on RAC e-tickets in case the request for refund is filed online after three hours of the actual departure of the train.

7B. Refund on Tatkal tickets.

(i) No refund of fare shall be admissible on confirmed Tatkal ticket.

(2) In case of Taikal ticket on waitlist, refund of fare shall be granted in accordance with rule 7.

(3) In case on a party Tatkal ticket or a family tatkal ticket issued for travel for more than one person, some persons have confirmed reservation and others are on waiting list, full refund of fare, less clerkage, shall be admissible for confirmed passengers also provided that the entire taikal ticket is surrendered for cancellation within six hours before the scheduled departure of the train or upto two hours of the actual departure of the train.

7. For rule 9 of the said rules, the following nile shall be substituted, namely:

“9. Postponement or preponement of journey on a reserved, RAC or waitlisted ticket.

(1) The postponement of journey on confirmed or RAC or waitlisted ticket shall be allowed in the same class and for the same destination or any higher class by the same train cm by any other train for any subsequent days. subject to condition that, 

(i) the ticket is surrendered during the working hours of reservation office and at least forty eight hours before the scheduled departure of the train in which originally booked;

(ii) the confirmed or RAC or waitlisted accommodation is available in the train in which fresh reservation is required;

(iii) in case of confirmed ticket, fresh reservation fee for the class for which reservation is required, is paid; and

(iv) in case of RAC or waitlistcd ticket, clerkage charge is paid.

(2) The preponemern of journey on confirmed or RAC or waitlisied ticket shall be allowed in the 

same class and for the same destination or any higher class by the same train or by any other train for any 

earlier days, subject to condition that

(i) the ticket is surrendered during the working hours of reservation office and at least forty-eight 

hours before the scheduled departure of the train in which originally booked;

(ii) the confirmed or RAC or waillisted accommodation is available in the train in which fresh reservation is required;

(iii) In case of confirmed tickets, fresh reservation fee for the class for which reservation is required, is paid; and

(iv) in case of RAC or waitlisted ticket, clerkage charge is paid.

3. In case of difference in fares for originally booked journey and revised journey, the difference of fare shall be refunded or recovered, as the case may be, subject to the provisions of sub rules (I) and (2).

(4) The postponement or preponement of journey under the sub-rule (l) or sub-rule (2) shall be allowed only once

(5) The postponement or preponement of journey on normal train ticket other that Tatkal ticket shall not be applicable against Tatkal Quota even on payment of Tatkal charges”.

8. For rule 11 of the said rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:-

“11. Non-commencement or missing of journey due to late running of trains.:- 

(1) No cancellation charge or clerkage shall be levied and full fare shall be refunded to all passengers holding reserved, RAC and wait listed tickets, if the journey is not undertaken due to late running of the train by more than three hours of the scheduled departure of the train from ‘the station commencing the journey subject to condition that 

(i) the ticket is surrendered upto the actual departure of the train.,

(ii) In case of e-tickets, the TDR is filed online before the actual departure of the train tor availing

 full refund,

(2) In case the ticket is cancelled or surrendered or if the request for refund of fare is filed online after the 

actual departure of the train, no refund of fare shall be admissible.

(3) Where a passenger holding a ticket, with or without reservation, misses connection for continued journey by another train at any junction station owing to late running of the train by which he had been travelling, the fare for the travelled portion shall be retained and the balance amount of ticket shall be refunded as the fare for untravelled portion, without levying any cancellation charge or clerkage, if he surrenders the ticket for such refund within three hours of the actual arrival of the train by which he had traveled and the refund of fare shall be granted at the junction station”.

9. For rule 17 of the said rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:-

“17. Lost, misplaced, torn or mutilated tickets.

(1) No refund of fare in respect of a lost or misplaced ticket shall be granted.

(2) Refund of fare shall be granted in respect of a torn or mutilated ticket if its genuineness and authenticity are verifiable on the basis of the particulars visible on the face of the ticket,

(3) If the reservation status of a lost, misplaced, torn or mutilated ticket, at the time of receipt of the application for issuance of a duplicate ticket for the purpose of undertaking journey, is confirmed or RAC and that the duplicate ticket is sought before preparation of reservation chart of the concerned train, the station master shall issue a duplicate ticket in lieu of the original ticket on payment of rupees fifty per passenger in case of second and sleeper class and rupees one hundred per passenger for other classes.

(4) If a duplicate ticket in lieu of a list or misplaced reserved ticket is sought after preparation of reservation chart of the concerned train, It shall be issued on payment of a charge equivalent to fifty per cent of the total fare.

(5) No duplicate ticket shall be issued in respect of RAC tickets after preparation of reservation chart of the concerned train.

(6) If duplicate ticket in lieu of a torn or mutilated reserved or RAC ticket is sought after preparation of reservation chart of the concerned train, it shall be issued on payment of a charge equivalent to twenty-five per cent of the total fare.

(7) A duplicate ticket in respect of a party coach ticket or a special train ticket shall be issued upto the time of departure of the train, on payment of a charge equivalent to ten per cent of the total fare.

(8) No refund of fare shall be granted in respect of charges paid under sub-rules (3), (4), (5) and (6) except in cases where the lost or misplaced ticket is traced after the issuance of a duplicate ticket and presented alongwith the duplicate ticket before departure of the train and in that case charges collected towards the issuance of duplicate ticket shall be refunded after deducting five per cent thereof subject to a minimum deduction of rupees twenty.

(9) In case the journey is not undertaken, the cancellation charges on the original ticket shall be determined as specified in these rules.

(l0) If the passenger, who has paid excess charges in train on account of his reserved ticket or RAC ticket being lost, misplaced, torn or mutilated, makes an application to a railway administration for grant of refund of the charges paid in train, the Chief Commercial Manager (Refunds) of that railway administration may, after making such inquiry as he may deem necessary, grant refund of fare total charges realised in the train, after retaining the cancellation charges at fifty per cent of a single journey ticket fare per passenger provided that no one has taken refund earlier on the original ticket”.

10. For rule 21 of the said rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:-

“21. Application for refund of Passenger Reservation System (PRS) tickets in other circumstances:-

(I) For refund of fare under circumstances other than those specified in these rules or under circumstances like ‘bandh’ or agitations or floods, etc., the passengers could not reach the reservation counter or station or current counters for cancellation of tickets, in those cases, a TDR shall be issued to the passenger and the passenger may apply for refund of fare within ten days from the day of commencement of journey to the Chief Commercial Manager (Refunds) of the railway administration under whose jurisdiction the TDR issuing station comes, enclosing the original TDR.

(2) In the circumstances specified in sub-rule(l), the TDR shall be issued only upto three days after the scheduled departure of the train”.

[F.No. TCH/2003/l2/Refund Policy]

A. MADUUKUMAR REDDY, Executive Director, Passenger Marketing

Source : www.indianrailways.gov.in

[http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/traffic_comm/Comm-cir-2k13/GAZETTE%20NOTIFICATION.pdf]